A BLACKPOOL woman who fought in the First World War and was reputed to be the last known female survivor, has died aged 104 in America.

Born and raised in the town, Mrs Margaret Olsen was one of the first members of Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps -- a female unit raised to support the British military at home and in France.

She died on January 21 in New Hanover County, USA, south of New York, where she moved in 1927.

In early 1917, British military officials created the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, or WAAC, as a way to free up male administrative personnel for the front lines.

Mrs Olsen -- then Mrs Hardman -- enrolled shortly after. Her service during the Great War was the defining experience for her as a woman and she was often described as being as tough-spirited as she was compassionate. Later she became a sergeant and was in charge of a mess hall at a WAAC training camp at Oldham.

Military leaders noted the success of the programme, and it was honoured with the addition of Queen Mary's name to its title.

Her marriage to an American in 1920, John Olsen, a Danish immigrant who fought in the US Army during World War I, brought her to the United States, but she remained solidly British, retaining her Lancashire accent and taking afternoon tea.

In 1927, the couple moved to New Hanover County. They raised tobacco, cotton and other crops on the farm before Mr Olsen died in 1962.

Mrs Olsen noted what little recognition British military officials gave WAACs at the close of World War I.

In 1994, American Legion Post 10 gave her a copy of the American World War I victory medal. She donated much of her papers and memorabilia to the British National Army Museum in London.

Her material forms an important part of the archive on women in the military. About 57,000 women were enlisted in the WAAC at the end of World War I, yet only about 9,000 personnel records survive because of damage to military archives during a German air raid in 1940.